It Pays to be Good
by LovinJackson
Summary: Dean and Sam learn that sometimes it pays to be the good guys with the help of a little guy in green. Set during Season 1. ONESHOT.


**IT PAYS TO BE GOOD**

**Author: **Tara aka LovinJackson :-)

**Summary: **Dean and Sam learn that sometimes it pays to be the good guys with the help of a little guy in green. Set during Season 1.

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Supernatural, Dean or Sam although man i wish i did :-P

**Authors Notes: **Okay guys i know i am still in the middle of 'Paying the Price' and it has been a while since i updated. I am really really trying to find the time to do it and i promise there will be another chapter before friday afternoon (aussie time) This story was written for my 8 year old Step-Brother Liam. he had been nagging me to write him a supernatural story that he could read and i thought since it took me away from my other story i would post this as well. Hope you like it :-)

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**It pays to be good.**

"So have you got something?" Dean Winchester asked upon entering the motel room he was sharing with his younger brother Sam.

Sam looked up with an amused look on his face. "Sort of," he replied.

Sam had been sitting on his bed searching for something supernatural to hunt while Dean had been out getting them something to eat for lunch.

"What do you mean sort of?" Dean asked as he threw a paper bag containing Sam's burger and fries at the younger hunter.

Sam caught the bag easily and pushed his laptop to the side. "Well I wasn't sure. I mean I didn't really believe what I was seeing."

"Sammy what are you talking about?" Dean bit into his burger as he spoke.

"I'm still finding it hard to believe." The 22 year old went on. "I mean I never thought they existed."

"Sammy I swear to God …" Dean warned, his patience running thin.

"Here take a look for yourself." Sam turned his laptop around so his brother could see the monitor.

Dean stood up from where he had been sitting on his own bed and moved warily towards Sam's, wondering what his brother was rambling on about. Sam took a bite out of his own burger while his brother leaned towards his laptop that was situated on Sam's bed. He wasn't surprised to hear the older hunters disbelieving chuckle. "You're kidding me right?" Dean asked as he stood up straight and looked down at his little brother.

"Look Dean, I had trouble believing it too but I looked into everything I could think of and more."

Dean looked towards the ceiling in contemplation before looking back down at Sam. "What about a bad luck demon?"

"I thought of that," Sam told him and then swallowed his mouthful of food. "It doesn't fit."

"So you come up with this?" Dean asked gesturing to the little green figure on the webpage.

"From what I can make out this is the only thing that it can be."

Dean looked at his brother in disbelief one more time before shaking his head and staring back at Sam's laptop. "I can't believe you think we are dealing with a Leprechaun."

xxxxxxxxx

It took Dean and Sam two hours to drive to Arkansas in Dean's shiny black 1967 black Chevy Impala. Sam was still a little amused that they were now hunting a Leprechaun. Never in all the years of training with Dean under the command of their father John Winchester had they come across the little Irish faerie.

Sam was even more amused at Dean's reaction. The 26 year old was having trouble grasping their new found knowledge that Leprechauns were in fact real. Actually the older boy had refused to totally believe it was the Irish myth until they got to their destination. Dean had always had a problem with believing in things that he couldn't see. The belief that it could be a bad luck demon was more appealing to the hunter

Dean glanced at his brother quickly before looking back to the road. "So …What have we got on this case so far?"

Sam sighed. "Well … a group of kids at the local high school had been doing a research project about the history of the town. They had found out that some Irish guy had settled a claim on some old mine when he first immigrated here. Now the mine has been abandoned for about 80 years or so but the story goes that he had buried a treasure in the mine before he disappeared.

"So let me guess … the kids decided to try and find that treasure and ran into a little bit of trouble."

"The students … there's seven all up working on the project and four of them have had some non-fatal unfortunate accidents. All four of those kids also said that a little guy in a green suit warned them that they would never get to the treasure."

"A little guy in a green suit … come on dude." Dean complained as he turned down the dirt road that lead to the abandoned mine that Sam had pointed out to him earlier.

"Hey, I'm just telling you what the kid's accounts were."

xxxxx

Fifteen minutes down the road the brother's heard a popping noise sounding suspiciously like a punctured tire. Dean pulled over to the side of the road and slammed it into park.

"What the hell?" he grumbled as he opened the car door and got out of the car, Sam following suit.

Sure enough the right front tire was flat. "Damn it!" Dean cursed, kicking the tire. "Owe!" Dean grabbed his now sore foot with his right hand and remained balancing on his remaining foot.

Sam looked on in amused silence as his brother clutched his sore foot and muttered to himself. "Did that make you feel any better?" he asked after a few moments.

"No!" Dean snapped angrily.

Sam shook his head. "Look, come on," he said, walking to the back of the car and opening the boot. "The mine shouldn't be too far away from here. We may as well continue on foot."

"What?" Dean asked limping around to stand next to his brother.

"We'll just leave the car …"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa," Dean interrupted.

"What?"

"I'm not leaving my baby here." Dean stated, referring to his car.

"Your baby …" Sam made explanation marks with his fingers. "will be fine."

"Sam!"

"Dean!" Sam stood his ground.

Dean glared at his brother but he knew that he was losing this argument. When Sam gave him that look, that patented Sammy look, Dean knew he would cave.

"Fine," Dean said finally and then looked once more at his beloved car. "Man …" he whined.

"It's not that bad Dean." Sam assured him.

"Yeah whatever, but you're carrying the bag." Dean told him pointing to the duffle of supplies that Sam had just pulled from the boot.

"Whatever." Sam muttered as Dean locked up the car and started down the road.

Sam's larger steps made it easy for him to catch up to his shorter older brother and soon the boys were walking side by side. Dean's limp was now non-existent.

Dean glanced at the younger hunter and decided that he should at least find out what they might be walking into. "So …" Dean began, causing Sam to look at him as they continued to walk. "If … and I stress _If_ this is a Leprechaun. What are we looking at?"

"Okay well Leprechauns are from Irish mythology …"

"Yeah thanks for that." Dean interrupted sarcastically.

"Will you shut up and listen for a change?"

Dean rolled his eyes and gestured for Sam to continue.

"As I was saying they are from Irish mythology. They are known as a type of Faerie and are said to inhabit Ireland."

"What's it doing in America then?"

"Probably because of that Irish immigrant all those years ago, it's probably just trying to protect its treasure."

"I thought the treasure belonged to the immigrant."

"Well I'm not sure … it's quite possible that the treasure was the Leprechauns all along. Some say that Leprechauns are ill-natured and mischievous with a cunning mind. In fact many tales present the Leprechaun as easily outwitting humans."

"So what … we catch it and kill it?"

Sam stopped walking. "Dean, you're not going to kill the Leprechaun."

"Why not?"

"Because it's not dangerous and it's just protecting its property." Sam argued. His brother's willingness to kill anything supernatural worried him at times.

"You said some kids have been injured."

"I said non-fatal."

"That's not the point Sam."

"Can we just see what happens?"

"Fine but …" Dean stumbled and ended up sprawled face first on the dirt before Sam even realised what had happened.

"Dean, are you okay?" Sam asked trying not to laugh.

"God Damn it!" Dean cursed spitting dirt out of his mouth while sitting up. He looked up to glare at Sam.

"What the hell happened?" Sam asked looking around to see what had caused his brother to fall.

"I must have tripped over something," Dean replied grumpily, knowing that excuse sounded wrong even to him.

"There's nothing here for you to trip over Dean." Sam observed. "Maybe it was the …"

"Don't say it Sam." Dean angrily stood up and brushed himself off.

"Maybe he knows we're here to stop him." Dean looked at Sam like he had grown a second head. "You can't be serious."

"I dunno dude." Sam shrugged. "Let's just get moving. Try not to trip over any more invisible pot holes."

"Shut up."

xxxxxxxxxxxxx

Another fifteen minutes later had Sam walking up to the abandoned mine with Dean trailing behind, muttering curses. A white substance that looked a lot like bird droppings was on the front of his jacket and he had leaves and twigs stuck in his collar and hair. The oldest Winchester was not happy. His car had a flat tire, he'd hurt his foot by kicking it, he'd been tripped up, a bird had dropped bird shit on his jacket and he had been knocked into the bushes by a remarkably strong wind. During all of this Sam had remained unscathed and Dean was losing his patience.

Dean looked up in search of his brother and found him by the opening of the mine with three teenage boys.

"What happened here?" Sam asked the three teens in front of him.

"Who are you?" one of them asked as he rubbed at his sore wrist.

"My name is Sam." Sam supplied and then pointed to Dean. "And this is my partner Dean. We're rangers."

"I'm Damien, this is David and Michael," Damien introduced.

Dean came to stand next to his brother. "So what happened here?"

The three boys all shared a look. "As silly as it sounds we heard of a buried treasure here in this mine. We've been trying to find it but things keep happening."

"What type of things?" Sam asked.

"Just bad luck," David told them.

"I think something here is stopping us from getting to the treasure." Michael said quickly.

"What makes you says that?" Dean asked, still pulling some twigs from his hair.

Michael looked nervous, realising that his explanation was going to sound ridiculous. "I got further down the mine than the others and I saw this little guy in a green suit. He told me that he wasn't going to let us find his treasure. I closed my eyes thinking I was seeing things and when I opened them he was gone. I know it sounds nuts."

Dean and Sam shared a look. If only these kids knew that they dealt with nuts every day. "We don't think your nuts." Sam told the boy in that sickening caring manner that always made Dean cringe. Sometimes it seemed that his brother's empathy knew no boundaries.

"But we do however think it would be best if you guys went home."

"Why?" Damien asked.

"Because we are the rangers and we said so that's why." Dean informed him, leaving no room for argument, which had Sam rolling his eyes at the impatience in his brother's voice.

Sometimes Sam wondered how his father and Dean got by without him when he had left to go to college. The impatience in both John and Dean couldn't have gotten them very far when talking to victims and witnesses.

"You want the treasure for yourselves don't you? David asked with a suspicious look on his face.

"Listen …" Dean began but was cut off by Sam. "We just want to make sure that the area is safe and I think you should know that there isn't any treasure here. It's just a myth."

"But …"

"Here, this proves it." Sam pulled a piece of paper from his jacket pocket and handed it to Damien. Dean gave his brother a strange look. He had no idea what was on that paper.

"It says that the only treasures known to be here were found 20 years ago by the local Museum, just some old artefacts." Damien said, reading off the paper.

"That's right. So there is no reason for you boys to be here and now we really are going to have to insist that you leave."

Dean smirked. It always amazed him when Sam pulled these little tricks out of his hat.

"What about …" Michael started to ask but Dean stepped forward. "Seriously guys its time to move on."

Damien threw his hands up in the air and stalked past the brothers. "Fine, come on guys!"

Once the boys were out of site Dean turned to Sam and nudged his shoulder, "Nicely done Sammy."

"Yeah, well at least if they decide to check out that story there really is artefacts at the museum to back me up."

"Good." Dean rubbed his hands together in front of him in anticipation. "Let's find the little guy and get this over and done with huh."

"Yes, lets." Sam followed his brother into the mouth of the mine. He shivered and noticed that Dean seemed to be moving more cautiously. The inside of the mine didn't look all that stable and Sam couldn't help but think that no wonder these kids were having accidents. This mine was one big accident waiting to happen. The last thing they needed was for the whole thing to fall down on top of them so he was glad that Dean realised the need to move slowly.

Dean stopped and turned to Sam. "What do you want to do?" he asked.

"I'm not sure. Maybe we could call out to him, let him know that his treasure is safe for now."

Dean shrugged and then turned back around. "Here Leprechaun, Leprechaun, Leprechaun." The oldest Winchester called.

Sam rolled his eyes at his brother for what felt like the millionth time that day. "Dean." He complained.

Dean sighed. "Fine, you call him then."

"Hello? … Mr. Leprechaun!!!." Sam called out.

Dean snickered. "Dude, that just sounds stupid."

"Shut up."

Dean was about to reply when they heard the sound of scurrying little footsteps and laughing. Moments later a gust of wind blew past them and further down the tunnel. Before Dean had a chance to think he had a face full of spider web. To make matters worse the spider web wasn't empty.

Sam's attention was brought back to Dean when his brother started flailing at something and then let out a girlish shriek as he frantically tried to brush something off his head.

"Dean?" Sam questioned once his brother seemed calmer, although he hadn't stopped brushing at his short dark blonde hair.

"Oh God, is it off me?" Dean asked Sam in a panicked voice.

"Is what off you?" Sam asked closing the distance between them.

"The spider damn it!"

Sam stopped the older hunter's actions and pulled his head down to look for the spider that Dean was carrying on about. Finding nothing Sam turned Dean around. "Stop moving," he ordered. "I don't see anything." Sam finally told him.

Dean shivered. "Man … I really hate those things."

"Dude, you can't do anything today."

"Yeah, well this Leprechaun has it in for me. All these things aren't a coincidence.

Sam smirked. "I thought you didn't believe it was a Leprechaun."

"What ever it is certainly likes to create mischief but I just have one question."

"What?"

"Why is it targeting me?"

"Because you're a mean person," Sam deadpanned and then pushed past Dean calling for the Leprechaun to show himself again. Dean glared at his brothers back before following. He shivered again when the phantom feeling of spiders came over him. He really did hate those things.

"So how are we gonna catch this little guy if we cant find him?" Dean asked after ten minutes of fruitless searching.

"Well the Leprechaun legend goes that once you look at a Leprechaun it cant escape but if you look away it can get lose. So if it does appear don't loose sight of it."

Dean and Sam looked around when they heard the sound of laughter and Dean tensed a little waiting for misfortune to come his way.

"Can we talk?" Sam called out to the presence that he knew was there.

Both Dean and Sam stilled as they heard a crumbling noise. "That can't be good." Dean quipped just before dirt and rocks feel from the ceiling and walls. Both boys raised their arms over their heads to protect themselves.

Sam watched in horror as a particularly large rock fell from the ceiling heading for his brother. Sam didn't have time to shout a warning before the rock came crashing down on the older hunter, sending Dean falling to the dirt ground.

As suddenly as it began the falling dirt and rocks stopped and the mine was quiet. "Dean?" Sam called, rushing to the side of his unmoving brother.

Dean was lying on his stomach with dirt and small rocks littered over him. Sam gently eased his brother onto his back so that he could get a better look at the extent of his injury. There was a little bit of blood trailing down the side of Dean's face from a bump to the side of his head and he was clearly unconscious.

Now Sam was starting to lose his patience. Before he had been amused at all the bad luck his brother had been having but up until now all the misfortunes had been harmless. Now was different. Now his brother had a bleeding head wound.

"Dean, come on. Wake up man." Sam lightly slapped his brother's face a few times causing Dean to moan and his eyes to flutter but he still didn't wake up. Sam checked his pulse and breathing and when both seemed to be okay Sam sighed in relief, although he wasn't looking forward to having to carry Dean out of there. The older man was heavier than he looked.

"I did not mean to hurt him." Sam's head shot up in the direction of the little voice with the very obvious Irish accent. He took his small torch out of his pocket and shone it where he thought the voice was coming from.

There standing a couple of feet away was a very small old man wearing a green jacket and hat. Sam had no doubt that this was the Leprechaun. Now that he was standing in front of him it made it almost harder for Sam to believe what he was seeing. Reading about one and seeing one were two different things.

"We're not here for your treasure Sir," Sam told the Irish Faerie.

"Then why are you here?"

"You have been creating a lot of accidents protecting your treasure and that's all well and good but as you can see it's starting to get a bit out of hand." Sam explained, gesturing to his prone brother.

"I am sorry." The Leprechaun seemed genuinely sorry.

"What's your name?" Sam asked, trying to appeal to his little green friend.

"Liam O'Reilly."

"Okay Liam my name is Sam and this is my brother Dean."

"You are a good lad Sam I can tell." Liam informed him.

"So is my brother, although he does tend to get on peoples bad sides."

"I can see that now … I couldn't let the children have the treasure. They weren't ready for such a gift or worthy enough."

Sam nodded and inwardly smiled at the little guy's Irish accent. "I understand that but if you keep this up someone could be seriously hurt and I get the feeling that's not what you want."

"You may have part of my treasure Sam Winchester." Liam declared.

Sam wasn't about to question how the Leprechaun knew his last name. "I can't do that."

"Why not laddy?"

"Because it's your treasure and we only came here to help."

Liam smiled. "You are an honest gentleman."

"So will stop with all the bad luck?"

"Aye that I will and I will hide my treasure elsewhere."

"Thank you Liam." Sam smiled and looked down at Dean when he stirred. Looking back he was surprised to see Liam gone. Then he remembered that is you took your eyes off a Leprechaun they could easily disappear.

Sam didn't have time to dwell on it though as he looked back down in time to see Dean cough and opening his eyes, the green a welcoming sight.

"Are you okay?" Sam asked, helping his brother into a sitting position.

"What the hell happened?" Dean croaked bringing his right hand to the bump on the side of his head. He coughed some more.

"We should get out of here," Sam said ignoring Dean's question, standing and pulling the shorter man to his shaky feet.

Dean swayed a little and Sam immediately grabbed his arm and placed it over his shoulders. The two brothers made their way out of the mine at a slow pace. Their breathing, footsteps and Dean's occasional cough the only sounds that could be heard.

Thankfully they hadn't been too far in the mine and reached sunlight fairly quickly. Once outside Dean shrugged off his brothers help and bent over to cough again, trying to dislodge the dust that had apparently made itself at home in his lungs. Dean could feel his head pounding and he could feel the blood already drying on his face.

"You okay?" Sam asked when he thought he had waited long enough.

"I'm fine Sam." … came Dean's standard reply. Although Sam knew that Dean would give him that answer even if he were dying, Sam believed him this time.

"Come on; let's get back to the car." Sam repositioned the duffle bag on his shoulder. Dean glared at the mine before turning to follow his brother.

"So what happened?" Dean asked again.

"It's taken care of. Mr. Liam O'Reilly told me that he would move his treasure and wouldn't cause anymore bad luck for people."

"Liam O'Reilly?"

"That was his name. He apologised to you by the way."

"Really?" Dean asked incredulously.

"Yeah that was before he offered me his treasure."

"He what?"

"You heard me."

Dean grinned. "So were rich."

"Not exactly." Sam kept walking.

"What do you mean not exactly?"

"I declined the offer."

"You declined? What makes you think he was actually telling the truth?"

"He trusted me and I trusted him. Look I can't explain it Dean but I'm sure it's over. Just trust me on this."

"And you turned down the treasure? You do realise this would have been the first time in ages that we have been payed for a hunt?"

"Yep." Sam smirked.

Dean rolled his eyes and threw his hands up in the air. "You know sometimes I wonder how we are even related."

Sam shook his head in amusement as Dean walked ahead of him to the car.

Upon reaching the Impala still waiting for them by the side of the dirt road Sam and Dean noticed that something was different. On closer inspection they found that the flat tire was no longer flat.

Dean turned to Sam with a surprised and suspicious look on his face. "What the hell?"

"Huh! That's strange." Sam walked over to the back door to throw the duffle on the back seat. He was surprised to see a small pot full of gold coins sitting in the middle of the seat. "Ahh Dean."

"What?" Dean stalked over to where his brother was standing by the open back door. He had not expected to find a pot of Gold sitting on his back seat. "I thought you said that you'd turned down the treasure."

"I did." Sam picked up the small card that was sitting on top of the gold.

"Huh. Wow. I guess it does pay to good." Sam mused as he passed the card to Dean.

Dean raised his eyebrows as he read the card out loud. "Good luck comes to good people. Liam O'Reilly."

Sam couldn't keep the smile off his face as Dean playfully punched him in the arm. "Way to go Sammy." Dean couldn't help but smile either. This little bit of good fortune was going to let them breathe easier financially for a good while.

"It's Sam, not Sammy." Sam corrected.

"Whatever dude." Dean laughed as he walked around the car and to the driver's side.

The Winchester brothers drove away from the mine and Liam the Leprechaun with smiles on their faces. Sometimes their job really did have its perks.

The End.

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Well there ya have it ... i apologise to any irish ppl if i totally botched the idea of the leprechaun but i hope you enjoyed it anyway :-) Let me know what you thought. :-) Now i must get back to 'Paying the Price' ... 


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